(A.N. Hello everyone, I guess I'm actually posting something? What is this. Anyway, I just couldn't get this idea out of my head and I just had to start writing it. Brycen x Burgh is one of my 5th gen OTPs, you know. For the story itself, there will be a lot of time skips, but it will tell you when the time is. But they're all in relation to the current time. Oh and...there is some age difference. Of 12. But while Burgh is a child, it will be mostly friendshippy, okay? Oh right. On with the story!)
16 years ago.
Brycen always enjoyed taking walks. It's nice to get away from the hustle and bustle of the big cities, like Castelia, which was developing at such a fast rate. He didn't know how such a forest could grow nearby but never bothered to question it, just enjoy it.
The forest was quiet today; no construction workers building a path to Nacrene, no trainers battling each other for experience…no, just him and the variety of Pokemon that live here. A Cottonee popped out from behind a bush and made a small noise, which led a Petilil to peek out nervously. Brycen smiled at the two playing Pokemon and watched them continue.
After the two Pokemon made noises that sounded like giggling and bounced away, Brycen walked towards the large mossy rock that stood as one of the marking points of the area. He sat down and leaned against it, taking out his sandwich and preparing to eat lunch. He sighed contently; the forest really was nice.
Of course, before he could even take a bite out of his Pecha-Berry sandwich, he heard a loud yelp and rustling noises. He flipped his head around to the direction the noise was coming from and packed his lunch as he did so. He hurriedly stood up and ran towards the noise, where he saw a small boy, about 8 years old, he thinks, cowering in fear from the large Scolipede towering over him.
Brycen immediately called out his Vannilish, and commanded it to use Ice Beam. With deadly precision, the cold beam hit the gigantic bug Pokemon and temporarily dazed it. The boy stopped covering his eyes now and blinks up at the battle in front of him with wide eyes. He groans and slowly got up, and Brycen noticed now that the boy had an injured Sewaddle with him. The boy looked at Brycen again and gave a weak smile.
"Uh…thank-you, sir."
Brycen smiled back, and then went back to his battle, where he and his Vannilish was easily beating down on the Scolipede. The boy was watching the scene, mesmerized (as was the Sewaddle) and when the Scolipede finally fainted, he could do nothing but breathe out an awed "Wow."
"You should be more careful." Brycen replied, averting his attention away from the Scolipede now. He walked towards the boy and leaned down to get to his level. "And I see that this Sewaddle is injured…"
The Sewaddle gave a weak squeak and the boy frowned. "Yeah…not only was it hit with Toxic, but with Venoshock too!"
Brycen winced. Poor thing. He took out his Pecha-Berry sandwich and took out some of the sliced berries. He held the berry in front of the Sewaddle, making small cooing noises to get it to eat it. The Sewaddle looked at the fruit suspiciously, and then slowly reached out to take a bite. It chewed it slowly, savouring the sweet taste and when it finally swallowed it, it made a happy squeal.
"Now all you need is rest, okay?" Brycen said as he patted the little bug-type's head.
The boy was surprised, and was quite happy about the fact that the Sewaddle was okay. He hugged the bug-type happily and smiled widely. After he was completely and utterly sure that the Sewaddle is happy and healthy, he turned back to Brycen, who was staring at them, amused.
"Thank-you Mr..sir…ah-"
"Brycen. The name is Brycen."
"Thank-you Mr. Brycen! Really, for everything." He smiled widely and let the Sewaddle down. "By the way, my name is Burgh!" he held out his hand to Brycen, smiling still.
"Pleasure to meet you, Burgh." He reached his hand out to meet Burgh's in a welcoming hand shake.
Of course, this was not the last time they would ever see each other.
Current Day
Burgh was lazing around his gym, as usual, waiting for any challengers to come by. He could stand to look so unready because Clyde, bless that man, would always tell him about any new visitors beforehand.
So of course, this meant he was ridiculously bored. He didn't feel like painting anything, and he didn't have a book to read. All he could do was laze around and wallow in his thoughts. Unfortunately, anytime he did so, his thoughts always went back to that man, that enigmatic icy figure…
Brycen.
He sighed and closed his eyes. No matter how much he wanted to, nothing in the past could be changed, and he had to accept that fact. Everything that happened, all the whispers of shared secrets, scared and paranoid touches, passionate and desperate kisses, they're all in the past.
When the intercom screeched on, and Clyde's static-filtered voice rang through the air, Burgh was shaken out of his thoughts and sighed. He took out his Pokeball and stood up, waiting for the challenger expectantly, and as always, professionally.
X—X—X—X—X
8 years ago.
At the age of 28, Brycen had become a world-renowned movie star. Loved by everyone, starring in the hottest movies, fame and fortune oozing out of everything he did.
He was enigmatic, he was interesting, and he was perfect.
Burgh loved his movies, and would always watch anything that he showed up in. Even his first role as the professor in "Professor What", the movie. He owns all the DVDs, all the VCRs, all the interviews, the specials, the posters…hell, he was probably obsessed.
But there was good reason (besides being an overzealous fanboy)
He turned on his newest movie, where Brycen was the role of Alfred in the mind-trippy movie: "Extraction" and watched it for about the tenth time, his Swadloon looking at the screen with boredom. He patted the Swadloon and smiled.
"This is the guy who saved your life, remember?"
The Swadloon gave no answer, and tried to give a light smile. It failed miserably, and proceeded to just lie against Burgh instead.
X—X—X—X—X
15 years ago.
Burgh had visited the forest everyday now. His parents always asked him where he was going, and he would always answer with: "Playing!"
They got worried about him. He was 9, almost ready to start a Pokemon journey, and here he was, visiting a forest everyday to play. Burgh didn't seem to notice his parent's anxiety though, and bounded into the forest with little to no care.
As soon as he entered, he made his way to the mossy rock, and smiled as he saw the familiar faces waiting for him.
"Hi Brycen!" Burgh would always say, smiling wildly and skipping towards him.
"Hello Burgh." He would reply coolly, chewing on whatever berry sandwich he had with him at the time.
The Sewaddle he had saved before would always squeak happily and jump in Burgh's arms, cuddling against his chest.
And that was their daily greeting ritual.
After Brycen finished his sandwich, there were always a couple of choices: Burgh would train the Sewaddle that had decided to join him of it's own free will, they would all relax against the trees and just sit there watching the wild Pokemon, or Burgh would sit down and sketch whatever he felt like sketching at the moment.
Today, they decided to go with the second option, and talk about whatever they felt like talking about as well. Burgh sighed, enjoying the familiar comforting smell, sights and sounds of the forest. Brycen chewed on his Nanab-Berry Sandwich, examining the Whimsicott that was floating from tree to tree playfully.
"Hey, Brycen?"
"Hm?"
"What's it like to be a trainer?"
Brycen stopped chewing and looked at the boy. He swallowed the remains of the lunch, and answered him coolly, as always. "It's a very rewarding experience. To see the ones you loved and raised succeed? The feeling is great"
"So it's like being a daddy?"
Brycen chuckles. "Yes. It's like being a daddy."
Burgh petted the Sewaddle that has made itself home in Burgh's lap. "That sounds so cool! I can't wait until I'm 10!"
Brycen looks over at the two, both of whom look perfectly comfortable with each other. "Are you planning to use that Sewaddle as your starter?"
"Yep! We're already friends and everything!"
"As a grass-bug type, it will face a lot of problems, but I believe you can train it to it's full potential."
Burgh smiled. "Thanks…"
Brycen nods and continued chewing his sandwich, basking in the comfort of the Pinwheel forest.
X—X—X—X—X
Day before Burgh's birthday
His parents were excited, their son is almost ten! He's almost ready for his Pokemon journey. They worried and fretted. What starter Pokemon should he use? Where should he head off to first? How many Potions should we give him? Burgh was excited as well, and told Brycen every single day. Just to explain how happy he was.
"So my parents thought that a Lillipup would be a good starter for me!"
"Somehow I can not picture you with a Lillipup…"
"I know! I want Sewaddle to be my partner, but…"
"You are afraid they would not accept it?"
"Yeah…not a lot of people like bug types!"
"Burgh, I'm pretty sure your parents would be fine with letting you venture out with a trustworthy companion. You and Sewaddle are close, are you not?"
"Yeah! We're best friends!"
Brycen smiled and patted the boy's head. "Then you shall be fine."
Burgh smiled at the always-comforting touch of the man. After Brycen returned to eating his sandwich, he leaned back against the tree and looked around the now very familiar forest. He's going to miss this. If he's going to go and journey all around the world, he won't be able to hang out in this forest anymore. He won't be able to draw, observe Pokemon, or talk with Brycen. The thought made him very sad now.
"Hey…Brycen…" he said quietly.
"Hm?"
"What are you going to do? After I leave on my journey?"
Brycen blinked and looked at the boy. Strangely enough, this problem didn't occur to him even when Burgh was going on and on about how he will be the very best, like no one ever was. "I don't think your parents would be comfortable to have me travel with you." he answered.
"But…you can join me later then, can't you?" Burgh looked up at Brycen with pleading eyes, his eyes starting to water over.
"Burgh, as much as I want to, this is a journey for you and only you. I can not watch over you every step of the way."
"But…but…I thought we-" Burgh's voice wavered.
"I do care about you Burgh, just, we'll meet again, okay?"
Burgh took a deep shuddering breath, to try to stop himself from tearing up, but failed in his goal and started crying. "You promise?" he asked, looking at the older man between sniffles.
"I promise." He smiled and patted the boy gently on the head. Burgh wiped his face with his sleeves and took another breath to calm himself down. He was not as excited about his journey anymore but realized now that this was inevitable. He sighed and slumped down against Brycen's shoulder and returned to his careful observation of the forest. He might as well enjoy his last time here.
To be continued.
(A.N.: Did you understand all the time skips? I really hope it's not confusing.)